An Age of Magic

Le stink or Der stench?

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I am glad I was not living in the south-east of England, or around London, yesterday. And I pity those people who do. yesterday morning an odiferous cloud of noxious fumes rolled in from over the Channel causing early morning commuters and those taking a walk to check  the soles of their shoes - or look suspiciously at the person sitting beside them on the bus or train.

The pong was coming from the agricultural and industrial lands of north eastern France - or so it was thought for a while. And of course people were happy to blame the French for the problem. High winds carried the smell over the water and people were so alarmed that many called the fire brigade!

However the blame is now being placed on the Germans, or Germany, which must sit fine with the French at least. Just don’t mention the war!

Popularity: 49% [?]

Do you borrow from Peter to pay Paul?

Many people in the United Kingdom are doing just that right now. Well, just have a look at the current economic climate there; they expect over 150,000 house repossessions this year alone due to the situation with the mortgages and people just cannot afford to keep up their repayments. What a sad situation it has come to. And we are not just talking about meeting mortgage payments - what about the everyday bills and the tough job it is to maintain a constant cash flow?

It’s no wonder that the payday loan companies are doing a roaring trade right now; being a relatively new and alternative form of borrowing they obviously suit the circumstances of the average person. You borrow a small amount - up to £750 - no more than that though, and the repayment is debited via your bank account either at the end of a fortnight or a month. The concept of payday loans is not original, being kind of based upon the principals of the pawnbroker, but the interest is usually lower and you can only borrow a relatively small amount of cash and the loan is ’set’ for a short period of time.

One thing though - you really need to be disciplined when opting for this as you could find yourself in the position of needing to defer your repayment. In this case you face additional charges and not only that, but you could find yourself trapped in a nasty cycle. However having said that, if you need a quick loan for an emergency and have your head screwed on right you might find them to be an easy option.

Popularity: 66% [?]

If people were like trees…

I wonder if we would live as long as this one recently found in Sweden. It is a spruce, is located in central Sweden and first took root just after the ice age and is still growing strong.

It has been carbon dated to 7,542 BC - isn’t that amazing? that’s 9,550 years after it first began to sprout.

Previously scientists always believed that the earth’s most ancient trees were 4,000 to 5,000-year-old pine trees found in North America so to find a spruce of this venerable age in a cold climate such as Sweden has provided new insight into mans migration to the ice front following the ice age. They reckon it was introduced by ancient man way back then.

I hope they keep an eye on this tree - she sure deserves respect.

Popularity: 8% [?]